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To celebrate this milestone in Jaz’s life, we started the day off with a little adventure. We decided to check out some place new; Quilchena Park. We’ve driven past this park numerous times, and said to each other “We should take Jaz here one day.” Turns out that day was today.

At the park we soaked up the sun, ran circles like crazy people dogs, rolled around in the grass, and played Jaz’s favourite game: TUG!

All grace goes out the window when Jaz finds a fresh, cool patch of grass (click here for video evidence from last year)!

“Tug Jaz, tuuuuuug!” She doesn’t mind us resting for a bit. As long as someone is willing to hold on to the other end of her favourite toy, Jaz will do the rest. And as you can see, she always keeps an eye on the surroundings, like any good terrier would 😉

Back home, it was time to make some preparations for Jaz’s ‘party’ at daycare tomorrow. I baked treats for all her furry friends!

They’re dog-cookies, but they looked and smelled so good that even I was tempted…!

… which is not that strange; just look at those yummy ingredients! Banana and peanut butter for flavour, and parsley for fresh breath. (I used an altered version of this recipe.)

Now that we were all set for tomorrow, dinnertime was approaching fast. And because Jaz had been such a good girl all day, patiently sitting through all the yummy smells coming from the kitchen without being allowed to have any of it –Okay. I lied. She may have had a piece or two. I mean… I had to make sure the cookies were good, right?!–, we decided Jaz could have her birthday (cup)cake for dinner:

***Disclaimer: Do not try this at home. Professional stunt-Lakelands were used. No Lakelands got harmed during the presenting and feeding of the pupcake. The candles were blown out before beards could go up in flames, and the candles were completely removed prior to the consuming of the cake. To prevent tummy aches, only part of the cake was fed.***

Summer in the city means less locals and more tourists. And although we generally like to defy that rule by staying in Vancouver while it’s nice here (those 3-4 months we get actual sun and minimal rain), our homeland was calling. –Actually, it were my parents and grandparents that were calling, but close enough!– So we booked ourselves a trip to the Netherlands and arranged for a little stay-cation for Jaz.

Leaving your pets behind is a difficult thing to do, and finding good people to take care of them while you’re gone is key. We have found an awesome cat-sitter for our two feline friends, and Jaz gets top-of-the-line care at one of our trainers, who offers in-home boarding. Boarding with the dog-trainer means that Jaz will not only get lots of love and caring, but will also have to stick to the ‘rules’ while we’re gone.

Left: Jaz enjoying some pool-time during her stay-cation.

Right: Jaz even had a little summer fling! Meet Fred. The two were inseparable!

While Jaz was having lots of fun hanging out in the pool and making new friends, we were over in the Netherlands doing the same (well, minus the pool…) Namely, besides the usual suspects –you know who you are!–, we also visited some place new, namely: The Sounding Burrows kennel! The Burrows and I met by admiring each other’s Lakies on Flickr, and have been conversing ever since. The Burrows breeds beautiful Lakelands with lovely temperament, and is actively trying to maintain variety by breeding black Lakelands, and, most recently, starting to focus on breeding liver-coloured Lakelands. We share a passion for Lakies, and since this would be one of the few occasions where we’d be on the same continent, my husband and I decided to stop by and say ‘hello!’.

“Hi! I’m Scott, man of the house!”

We were lucky enough to meet a plethora of puppies, as The Burrows had two litters, one of 4 and one of 5. Needless to say, I wanted to take them all home! They say all puppies are cute, but to me there’s nothing cuter than Lakeland puppies; who can resist those tiny stumbling plush teddy-bears with their cheeky eyes and boastful roars?!

Puppies – yeah!

Not just the puppies, but the whole crew was a lively bunch; energetic, cheerful, just plain-old happy! I cannot blame them; I’d be happy to be living at The Burrows too. This place was set up with Lakies in mind. A fusion of human and canine space, where functionality and comfort were perfectly balanced… we’d never seen such a thing!

Happy, happy, joy, joy! Chess is living life to the fullest each day!

It was great to meet someone with whom I share a passion. We could have talked for days, I’m sure of it. But, for now, it was great to put a face to a name, to share in some of The Burrow’s knowledge, and, most importantly, to get some Lakie-love oversees. –Boy were we missing our daily Lakie-fix!– Thanks, The Burrows!

“Oh, hi there! Don’t mind me as I skip across your screen. I had the most fabulous time last weekend with my mom and dad. The weather was just perfect, and the view wasn’t too shabby either, as you may be able to tell from this picture:”

“Mom’s really busy with school at the moment, so I’m doing what any good Lakeland terrier would do; I’m pitching in. My ancestors were real working terriers, you know. And if you ask me, it’s about time I took matters into my own hands. This blog is supposed to be all about me, and now you finally get to hear things from the horse’s mouth. –Er, dog’s mouth!–“

“…where to begin? Mom and dad got me these new treats that taste like rabbit, and I love them! We have a cool new game called the ‘ready’-game where I stand and wait, all fours on the mat at the front door, looking up at my dad. Dad will say “rrrrrrrready?” and send a treat flying across the living-room floor, after which I get to chase it. Sometimes I can’t find the treat, in which case dad will help me out. But mostly I just pretend to be unable to find them because I like to watch him crawl around on all fours–those are true bonding moments for the two of us!”

“Oh, and how do you like my new custom collar? It’s my ‘big-girl-collar’ as mom likes to call it. I’m more than 18 months old now, which means I’m full-grown. But really it means I get to have all sorts of fancy stuff. I asked mom and dad for pink rhinestones, but they decided on plain white stones and steel studs. –I know, I know… we need to work on that!– We got the collar with a matching leash (which I’ll have to model for you later) at this cool place downtown. It’s one of my favorite places to shop, as I get to run around off-leash and harass the doggies that work there.”

“Pfew. I never knew this typing-stuff was so difficult and tiring. Mom and dad do it all day. Their paws must be so sore! Anyway. I gotta go chase the cats now. Take care! Yours truly, Jaz”

Sometimes you just need to get out of the city. Sometimes, it’s time to trade your high heels for some sneakers, swap you reading glasses for sunglasses, tie your hair up into a ponytail, and go on a little adventure. (Or, if you’re a dog: you just get up and go already!) And this is exactly what we did last week. We packed our car full of supplies, changed into our comfy clothes, and took Jaz to Tofino for some care-free fun on the beach.

“I’m on top of the world!” – Jaz acting silly during one of our hikes.

With it’s remote location, untouched nature reserves, and wide-stretched beaches, Tofino truly is a dog’s paradise. We meandered the beach for hours, while Jaz sniffed dead crabs, played with ginormous seaweeds, and chased sandpipers until her paws could carry her no more. We enjoyed lunch on patios (Jaz especially appreciated the genoa salami foccacia), toasted the sunset with champagne (well, just water for Jaz), and ate ‘breakfast’ at noon.

“Nom, nom, nom…” chompin’ on some seaweed.

The best of all was that we didn’t really ‘do’ anything. We just were. We slept, we ate, we walked, and we played. No agenda. No deadline. No expectations. Just a dog and its owners, enjoying each other’s company. There truly is no better way to be.

I hope you’re not bored of seeing videos with cats in them, because this one was too good not to share. It’s hot off the press, as it was shot this afternoon.
Jaz and Nana, our oldest cat, have moved to second base. I cannot believe I caught it on tape! Nana is so drunk with love that she takes a tumble off the stairs, and Jaz lifts her leg in order to give Nana better access, after which they have a little boxing match. You’ve gotta watch this one right to the end… enjoy: